Robbie Findley scored the game’s only goal in the 34th minute and Chivas USA lost to Real Salt Lake, 1-0, Saturday night at Home Depot Center. The loss was Chivas’ sixth of the season, so with just over a third of the season in the books the Goats (4-6-2) now have just one fewer loss than they had all of last season.

The loss was Chivas’ first home setback to RSL in teams’ four-year history (eight matches).

“It’s frustrating. We probably should have gotten a result in New York too (June 5),” Chivas USA defender Jim Curtin told MLSnet.com. “We were the better team but you kind of can’t feel sorry for yourself. We’re dropping points and you are what your record says you are, we’re 4-6-2 now and that isn’t good enough with the quality we have in the locker room.”

After winning three consecutive games, the Goats have dropped those two matches in a row and continue to find themselves forced to send out different starting lineups thanks to national team commitments and injuries.

The U.S. national team did not make goalkeeper Brad Guzan available (something Chivas coach Preki was not told until about three hours before game time) but did allow Sacha Kljestan to play. Kljestan and Guzan spent the week training with the U.S. national team in preparation for today’s 2 p.m. World Cup qualifier against Barbados at Home Depot Center, so Dan Kennedy made his MLS debut starting in place of Guzan. Jonathan Bornstein and Ante Razov also returned to the starting lineup for Chivas.

Defenders Shavar Thomas and Claudio Suarez, though, dressed for the match but the central defense pair remained Jim Curtin and Justin Braun.

Chivas put pressure on the visitors but could not find the final touch inside the penalty area in what would be a recurring theme in the match.

“I didn’t think we were particularly sharp in the first half. We had quite a few guys who weren’t sharp and I didn’t feel like the commitment was good from the get-go in the first half,” Preki told MLSnet.com. “We make one or two mistakes and we paid for it. After that it was an uphill battle. We pushed the tempo and we created quite a few opportunities but it doesn’t look like now we can find the touch in front of the goal and can’t put the ball on net.”

RSL finally broke through after the opening half-hour. Kyle Beckerman sent a ball down the left side of the field. Findley beat defender Carey Talley to the ball, held off his mark and darted into the area. Kennedy charged off his line and slid near the top of the box but Findley evaded the dive and slipped a ball into the open net.

“To be honest I didn’t think he was going to have that good of a touch,” Kennedy told MLSnet.com. “I wanted to close him down and make it hard on him and did in a way but he had a good touch. It forced me to kind of hold up and I took Talley out of the play. He cut it, had a good touch and had an open net.”

Chivas USA had chances to knot the game. Braun, a halftime substitution, had three clear opportunities but could not place a shot on goal. He chipped a close-range shot over an empty net in the 53rd minute and fired a shot right at RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando on a breakaway several minutes later.

Sacha Kljestan also misfired on a free header in the 73rd minute. His bouncing attempt skipped past the left post.

“I don’t think we had enough guys have their high-quality games when we’re putting pressure on them and making them defend and putting our mark on the game the way we can,” Chivas USA captain Jesse Marsch told MLSnet.com. “When you don’t get enough guys come out from the beginning and have their good games, you are going to struggle. That being said, the game was there to win — so was last week.

Marsch seems to sense the season is threatening to slip away from the team, already.

“The last two games we managed to do some things but came away with no goals. That’s obviously a problem. It’s a long season. It’s frustrating losing at home and not really finding our way other than the three-game stretch we had.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.